Oh, I’m so happy!
So much so, in fact, that I was tearing up a little. Basking in my joy, I lay sprawled out on the grass in the garden. Yes, sprawled out.
You see, no one could chide me for it! I was free to lie in the grass to my heart’s content! Which, when engaged to the prince, I hadn’t been! This was the best thing ever!
During my romp, I felt a pang of hunger. I stood, paying no mind to my soiled clothes, and went into the house, calling for my maidservant.
“Lily, I’m going out to fish!” I told her.
“Enjoy, my lady,” she said.
While I was engaged to Lord Clarke, Lily would nag me about every little thing, but since we’d come to this village, she hadn’t chastised me once. I was no longer a noble lady, after all. Decorum was of no consequence.
All thanks to my brother’s promise.
I skipped and hopped my way to the river in no time at all and cheerily readied the bait. Hm, I think I’d like some grilled fish, I mused, grinning from ear to ear at being able to freely partake in an activity I loved so much.
I’d been all smiles since coming to Aberta. Which, yes, had only been two days ago, but still!
The rural farming village was about a day’s trip by carriage from the capital. There wasn’t a single lady in a frilly dress. Not one gentleman in a tuxedo. Only villagers in lightweight clothing. Likewise, I wore but a simple dress. Much easier to move around in!
There were no fashionable clothing shops, no bookstores with romance novels for girls to swoon over, nowhere to shine one’s shoes. Since carriages hardly ever came by, there was no need for cobblestones, and the roads were simply hardened dirt. Not a single café in sight.
What the village did have was a small general store, a grocer, cows, sheep, pigs, chickens, fields, fields, fields, and more fields. In other words, pretty much all nature. And that suited me just fine.
I’d never been fit to be queen in the first place. From a young age, I always merrily zipped around, ran my mouth, preferred the outdoors to fashion, ran my mouth... Oh, and ran my mouth some more.
And so nothing made me more euphoric than being in the middle of all that nature like I was now.
It’s so wonderful to be able to do everything I haven’t been able to since I was seven years old! I thought right as I managed to reel in a trout. Perfect for grilling!
Using the tools I’d brought, I gutted, skewered, and sprinkled salt on the fish. To complete the process, I gathered some dry wood and used a flint to start a fire. I loved this kind of thing. It really made me feel like I was living in the wild!
“You look like you’re having fun,” a voice suddenly echoed.
“Lord Clarke?”
My former fiancé was standing next to me. When had this happened?
That was odd. Why would royalty be out in the sticks like this? Was there some sort of formal procedure to break the engagement? Perhaps some sort of issue with protocol? But such matters were not my concern.
I’ve always asked my brother to take care of things like this, so would you kindly go to him instead? Don’t bother me while I’m out here enjoying my happy country life!
At first I’d thought it must be an incredibly urgent matter, but he only had a handful of attendants with him, all watching from afar. It didn’t seem like an important visit. I wasn’t sure why he’d come here, but if it were a serious matter, then no doubt there would’ve been more people nearby.
I promptly concluded that it couldn’t be a big deal and therefore didn’t matter. I reached for the trout, unconcerned. Our engagement was broken, and so what this man did was of no consequence to me.
“How may I help you?” I asked, as a matter of courtesy, before bringing the grilled fish to my mouth. It was delicious, perfectly cooked. Way to go, me.
“Is that your lunch for the day?” he asked.
“Yes,” I replied. “It’s quite tasty.”
“And you caught it yourself?”
“I did,” I said, with the fish still in my mouth. Nobody could scold me for talking with my mouth full anymore! “I take pride in my fishing skills. And my tree climbing skills. And my running skills.”
I finished my meal in no time at all, and so I decided to once again set the bait and catch another. Hmm, what’ll it be next?
As I hummed to myself, I felt someone nearby. Lord Clarke had taken a seat next to me—I’d been so engrossed in fishing that, for a moment, I’d forgotten all about him.
Wondering why he’d done so, I asked again, “Well? May I help you with anything?”
“No, nothing in particular,” he stated.
“Huh?”
Why had he come if he didn’t need anything?
Confused, I tilted my head slightly, but kept my eyes on the fishing line. I couldn’t let my precious catch get away, after all.
“You’re quite lively,” the prince remarked.
“Freedom does that to someone,” I replied with sincerity. Nothing was more wonderful than freedom, as I had so keenly felt once more upon coming to this village.
“You haven’t changed at all,” he said.
“Pardon?” I said, confused, taking my eyes off the fishing line to stare at Lord Clarke.
“Do you know why I got engaged to you?” he asked.
“I wasn’t interested in knowing, so no.”
The prince’s face fell slightly at my words. You know, I’d never really paid any attention before, but he was quite handsome, wasn’t he?
Silky blond hair, swaying in the wind. A straight, tall nose. Skin so flawless and free of blemishes one might wonder if he was really a man. I could see my reflection in those dignified blue eyes of his. Yep, he was quite a looker. The kind of man I could brag to my grandchildren about having been engaged to—if I ever happened to actually marry and have grandchildren in the first place, that is.
I found myself gazing admiringly at him. The tug of a fish’s bite brought me back to reality, and I hurriedly raised my rod, only to see that the fish had gotten away with the bait.
Unfortunate, but failure was part of the thrill of fishing. I once again baited my hook, then cast it into the river.
As he watched me, Lord Clarke started talking. “...Came crashing right down from that tree.”
I forgot what he was talking about for a second. After taking a moment to consider, I recalled he’d mentioned something about why we’d gotten engaged. How that related to what he’d just said, however, I had no idea.
Crashing? What did?
I stared at him, as if urging him to go on. With a smile, he continued.
“Ten years ago, you came to the palace alongside Duke Dorman. You climbed a tree in the courtyard, remember? I happened to be passing by, and you came crashing down right on top of me.”
My father had indeed used to go to the palace on business and brought me along. I’d taken a liking to one particular tree in the palace courtyard, and so, at times when my father had been busy with his duties, I’d often climbed it for fun.
Sometimes I took a nap up there, so I fell from the tree pretty often. I couldn’t remember the incident he spoke of, however. Had I fallen on someone?
“I was so shocked. You just sat on top of me and laughed.”
Another trout caught. Quickly, I went about preparing it as he told his story.
“That was adorable,” he continued.
I skewered it.
“It was love at first sight. I requested the engagement.”
“So it was your fault!”
“I’m quite pleased with how things turned out. Aren’t you?”
“Of course not! I suffered every day for ten whole years because of that!”
Realizing I’d been angrily yelling at the prince, I gasped. He wasn’t exactly someone one could be this rude to, let alone scream at.
Apprehensive, I glanced at Lord Clarke. He was grinning ear to ear.
What? What’s there to be so happy about?
Well, while it was pretty odd that he was smiling at a woman who’d just yelled at him, at least he wasn’t angry, so...silver linings! I picked up a piece of flint and started a fire to grill my fish.
“But you couldn’t be honest about not wanting the engagement, so you kept sending women my way, didn’t you?”
“You knew?!”
I’d set up numerous honey traps in the hope that it’d lead to our engagement being broken off. Time and again, I’d sent him all sorts of beautiful women—busty, flat-chested, fat-bottomed, slender...and when he didn’t fall for any of them, I figured maybe he was into cougars or younger girls or something, so I tried those too. More recently, I’d even tried sending a man his way, to no avail. Not once did my traps work! Picky, picky!
“Oh, by the way, you and I are still engaged,” Lord Clarke declared, brushing the sand off his pants as he stood up.
“Whuh?”
I’m under the distinct impression he just said something absolutely mortifying.
“I’ll come back for you soon. Feel free to relax until then.”
“P-Pardon?!”
Having ruined my day with his announcement, Lord Clarke merrily went about his way.